Improvement in alarm-telegraph signal-boxes



J. ABBOTT. ALARM TELEGRAPH SIGNAL BOX. No. 108.117. w Patented M ay17,.1870.

All R1 bination with a signal-box providedwith an automatic and thusswitches the whole operating mechanism out of the circuitat thecompletion of the giving of each to be closed without injury to saidlever, thus preto the inner door, and can be made to fit closely therewecam.

JOB ABBOTT, or CANTON, ASSIGNOR TO AUTOMATIC FIRE-ALARM coni a r PANY,or LEETONA, OHIO. Y

Letters Patent No. 103,117, dated May 11, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT ALARM-TELEGRAPH SIGNAL-BOXES,

The Schedulexeferred to in these Letters Patent and msklngp'art of thesame To all whom it may concern;

Nature and Objects ofmy Invention. y The first part of my inventionrelates to the comsignalizing mechanism, of a switch mechanism, operatedby the automatic mechanism, and arranged with respect to said'automaticmechanism in such a manner that saidautomatic mechanism closes theswitch,

fire-alarm by said mechanism, thus effecting a great saving of batterypower in working the circuit, and preventing the operating mechanismfrom being injured by atmospheric electricity.

' The second part of my invention relates to the construction of afire-alarm telegraph signal-box, provided with a longitudinal partitiondividing its interior into two apartments, and with two hinged innerdoors, one to each apartment, and with an outer door covering both ofthe inner doors of the box, whereby I obtain a signal-box in which theautomatic sigualizing mech'-' anism, and the key-telegraph mechanism canbe arranged separately from each other, and which is peculiarly adaptedto the use of devices for preventing the automatic mechanism and keymechanism from being operated simultaneously, thus making the signal-boxof peculiar utility in single circuits which are used for both policeand fire-alarm telegraph purposes. The third part of my inventionrelates to the construction of a stop mechanism, operated by an arm onthe main driving-shaft of the automatic mechanism, and servingto preventthe inner door from being closed until the winding-lever of theautomatic mechanism is in a proper position to allow said door ventingthe danger of bending or breaking said lever.

The fourth part of my invention relates to the combination of a pivotedshield-piece provided with a suitable knob-hole, with the inner door ofthe signal-box, and with the winding-lever of the automatic mechanism,said winding-lever being provided with a knob extending through theknob-hole in the shield-piece, and a slot in the inner door, so that theshield-piece is operated by the movement of the knob of thewindinglever, whereby the shield-piece can .be secured directly to, soas to effectually exclude dust and dirt from the interior of theapartment.

The fifth part of my invention relates to the combination with the frameofa signal-box provided with two hinged inner doors,of a lockingmechanism, operating on said inner doors in such a mauner'that theopening of one door causes the locking of the other door, so that itcannot be opened until the first-opened door is closed,-thns preventingpersons from obtaining access to but one of the inner apartments at atime, and making the automatic mechanism and key mechanism as distinctfrom each other (sofar as access to them is concerned) as if they wereplaced in separate boxes, by which the danger of mixing the operationsof the automatic mechanism and key mechanism may be materiallydiminished.

The sixth part of my invention relates to the construction of aswitch-wheel, provided with three insulated conducting-strips, which isso combined with the four terminii of the four parts of two electricalcircuits, as that, when in one. position, its outer strips serve tounite the two separate parts of each circuit, while in another position,obtained by a rotation of said wheel, its central strip serves touniteone part of one circuit with the opposite part of the othercircuit, whereby I obtain a very simple means of breaking and unitingthe different circuits in a signal-box,

for the purpose of switching the automatic mechanism-out ot' the circuitwhen the key mechanism is in operation.

The seventh-part of my invention relates to the construction of aswitching mechanism, which is operated bythat inner door of the'signal-box which in: closes the key mechanism, and is combined with thedifferent circuits in the signal-box in such a manner that the openingof said inner door causes the automatic signali'zing mechanism to beswitched out of the circuit, thuspreventing the possibility of theoperator breaking inonto the circuit by operating the 'key .mechanismwhile the automatic mechanism is In operation, which would confuse thesignals and render the fire-alarm unintelligible. I

The eighth part of my invention relates-to the construction of a lockingmechanism, which is operated by the automatic mechanism, and by whichthe inner 'door of the signal-box which incloses the key mechanism iskept locked until the completion of any signal commenced by theautomatic mechanism, whereby I prevent the operator from interruptingthe transmissionof a fire-alarm by the automatic mechanism, by openingthe lower inner door, and thus switching the automatic mechanism ut ofthe circuit.

Description of Accompanying Drawings.

Figure 1 is a front view of a signahbox embodying my invention, with theinner doors removed.

Figure 2 is a side view of the same, with side of box removed.

Figure 3 is a front view of the same, with inner doors closed.

Figure 4 is a view of the rear side of the inner door in l sing theautomatic mechanism.

Figure 5 is an edge view of the same.

Figure (5 are detail side view and plan of a portion of the box, showingthe construction of the switchwheel mechanism.

Figure 7 is a view showing the arrangement of the anvils under theswitch-wheel.

Figure Sis a view of the rear face of the switchwheel.

Figure 9 is a front view of the gear-wheel, segment, and lever-arm foroperating switch-wheel.

Figure 10 are side views and plan of mechanism for locking the innerdoors.

eneral Description.

The signal-box cousistsof the frame A A, in which is secured theremovable back D and the longitudinal partition E, which divides theinterior into two apart ments.

The inner doors 0 and Y are .hinged to the frame A A, and serve toinclose the upper and lower apartments of the box, and the outer doorBis hinged to the frame A A, and covers both the interior doors 0 and Y,as shown.

The posts 30 30 30 are inserted in the back D, and the plate F issecured on their front ends, and the shafts 1, 2, and 3 are arranged inthe hack D and plate F, as shown.

The geared sect-or J is secured on the main shaft 1, and meshes into thepinion I on the shaft 2, on which is secured the circuit-wheel H.

The pulley K is secured on the shaft 1 and has socured to it the cord31, which passes up over the pulley L on the shaft 3, and has the weightM attached at its end, as shown in figs. 1 and 2.

The key N is pivoted .on astandard, 32, and has the pin 9 inserted inits end, which is kept pressed against a pin in the standard It by meansof the spiral spring shown in fig. 1.

lins are inserted in the face of the circuit-wheel H, in a mannerdepending on the particular signal required, and a sliding ed, withbeveled lower end, is arranged in the end 0 the key N, so that, as thecircuit-wheel H is revolved from left to right by the downward movementof the geared sector J in dr'a-wing up the weight M, the pins in thecircuit-wheel H strike the beveled end of the rod in the key N, andslide it forward, so as to allow of their passing said rod withoutvibrating said key, and thus breaking the circuit; while in theautomatic rotation of said circuitwheel from right to left, caused bythe action of the weight M, the pins in said circuit-wheel strike thesquare side of the rod in the key N, thus vibrating said key, andbreaking the circuit by drawing the ping back from the pin in thestandard 7:, as is readily seen.

The general construction of this automatic mechanism is the same as thatshown in Letters Patent granted to Alexander Allen for an improvedautomatic fire-alarm apparatus, on the 1st day of June, 1869, to whichreference is made for a more detailed description.

The key mechanism \V is an ordinary telegraphkey, arranged to work on aclosed circuit, (the circuit being broken by depressing the knob, so asto raise the screw 1) from the anvil 41,) and is arranged in the lowerapartment of the box, as shown being separated from the automaticmechanism by the partition E.

The sounder mechanism consists of the electromagnets T, having thepivoted armature Utarranged at their end, as shown, the movements ofsaid armature being controlled by screws in the standard V, in anordinary manner.

The screw-cups O O,iu which are secured the ends 2 of the main circuitwires, are arranged on the back, D, of the box, as shown, and insulatedwires are arranged-as indicated by dotted lines, so as to form onecircuit, commencing at the right-hand screw-cup O, thence to theelectro-magnets T, at the point x; thence through the wire on saidmagnets to the point w; thence to the screw '0 in the key W; thence fromthe anvil 21, through the points j i, to the standard h; thence throughthe pin in said standard, and the pin g in the key N, to the left-handscrew-cup 0. And a second circuit is formed by the switch a thence from.the anvil b,'through the points lit, to the left-hand screw-cup 0,which last-described circuit is called. the switch circuit.

The switch a, represented in drawings, consists of a plate ofsheet-brass, cut out in an 1-shape, and having one leg bent at rightangles to the plane of the plate, and secured under the screw-cup 0,while the body of the plate sets up on the face of the frame A, asshown.

The anvil b is secured in the frame A under the free end of the switcha, and the rod 0 has one end secured in the switch a, and passes througha hole in the standard (I, secured on the back D.

The notch e is formed in the geared sector J, and when said sectorcompletes its upward movement, the face of this notch strikes the end ofthe rod 0 and presses the plate adown on the anvil I), thus closing theswitch.

The plate a, being made of elastic metal, and of such form as to standaway from the anvil 7), when not pressed down by the rod 0, it isevident that when the geared sector J is turned down, in winding up theweight M, the plate awill spring away from the anvil b, thus opening theswitch and breaking the switch circnito a 7) l 70 0, which causes theelectric current to pass over the circuit 0 a; w c u j 1' kg 0, whichbrings both the key mechanism and the automatic mechanism into the maincircuit, so' that either of them can be used for purposes oftransmission.

As soon, however, as the automatic mechanism completes its operation,thegeared sectorJ moves up against the rod 0, thus pressing the plate aonto the anvil b, which closes the switch and completes the switch circuit, thus switching out the operating mechanism by forming a shortercircuit bctween the screw-cups O O.

The winding-lever G is secured on the main shaft 1, and is provided withthe knob f, which extends through the circular slot 21, formed in theinner door 0, as shown in figs. 2 and 3.

On the back of the door 0 is secured the pivoted shield piece 12, bymeans of the pivot screw 18, said pivot screw being in line with theshaft 1, when the door 0 is closed, and the arms, 13 and 14, of saidshield-piece being of the proper shape to cover the slot 21 in the doorG.

The stop-pin 16 limits the upward rotation of the head 13 14, and thespiral spring 19 keeps the shield piece drawn up against the stop-pin10, as shown in figs. 4 and 5.

The outer edges of thehead 13 14 can be beveled off, and a press strip,17, can be arranged, as shown,

-in order to hold the head 13 14 downclose to the slot 21, if desired.

The knob-hole 15 is cut in the head 13 14, and the knob f of thewinding-lever G passes through said hole, as shown in fig. 3, from whichit is seen that, by grasping the knob f on the outside of the door 0,the

As the shield piece 12 is kept up against the stoppin 16 by the spring19, it is evident that if the door 0 were open, and an attempt were madeto close it winding-lever G may be drawn down to wind up the lever 11,thus drawing down the lever q before the winding-lever G was in theproper position to allow the'knobfto pass into the knob-hole 15, saidknob would be struck by the arm 14 of the shield piece, and the knob orwinding-lever would be liable to be bent or broken.

To prevent this difficulty, the leverX is pivoted on the pin it, securedin lugs at the top of the frame A A, and a rod, 1', with base piece 8,is secured in said lever over the wlnding-leverG in such a manner that,when said winding-lever is at the end of its upward movement its endrest-s under the base piece 8, and thus supports the lever X, so'that itpasses through the hole 20 in the door 0, thus allowing said door to beclosed. I

But if the winding-lever G were drawn down while 1 the door 0 was open,the forward end of the lever X would drop down until its rear end struckthe frame A, so that if an attempt were then made to close the door 0,it would strike the end of the lever X, and be thus held open until thewinding-lever G came up to raise the lever X, thus preventing the knobor winding-lever from being injured.

For the purpose of greater security against false alarms, it may befound advisable to operate the automatic mechanism from the inside ofthe inner door, 0,

or, in other words, not to have any projecting kno'b or othercontrivance for operating the winding-lever from the outside of the door0, but to compel the operator to unlock both the outer and inner doors,and open them, before being able to give an alarm, and itis alwaysdesirable to prevent the operator from manipulating but one mechanism ata time, so that he could not confuse the automatic alarm signals byattempt ing to operate with the key mechanism while theautomaticmechanism is in operation.

To effect this result in the construction just indicated, the leverfq ispivoted ona pin, 5, in a slot cut in the partition 1 and a second lever,12, is pivoted on a pin, 4, in the same slot, and hasa forked end,.whichsets over a pin, 6, in the lever q. 1

A lock-pin is formed on the end of the lever q, and a corresponding holeis made in the bottom of the door 0, and the several parts are soarranged that when the lower door, Y, is opened, the weight of theforward end of the lever 11 causes it to fall, and thus raises the leverq, so as to shoot the lock-pin at its end into the hole in the bottom ofthe door O, thus locking said door, as shown in fig. 2. The end of thelever 11 being made sloping on its under side, as shown, as the lowerdoor Y is closed it raises that end of the and unlocking the door 0, asis readily seen.

It is also readilyseen that a similar device could be used to lock thelower door Y, by the opening of the upper door 0, from which it is seenthat the opening of either door would look the other door, so that butone door could be opened at the same time for the purpose before shown.

H A modification of the same device is shown in the inner side strip, infig. 3, in which the levers 7 and 11, of the form shown in fig. 10, arearranged on the pins 8 and 10, the forked end of lever 11 setting overthe pin 9, in the lever 7, and the lower end of the lever 11 beingthrown out when the door Y is opened by the spring, shown in fig. 3.

When a projecting knob orother contrivance is used, by which thewinding-lever G can be operated from the outside of the inner door 0, itis evident that the use of a locking mechanism, which would lock eitherdoor by the opening of the other door, as has just been shown, would notbe of any use, 'for the operator could pull down the knob f, and thusput the automatic mechanism in operation, even when the lower door, Y,were opened, and the upper door, 0, were looked, as shown in figs. 2 and3.

In order to meet this difficulty I switch the. automatic mechanism outof the main circuit, when the lower door is opened, and the keymechanism-is exposed by breaking the switch-circnit o a l) l k 0, andthe combined-key and automaticcircuit o a; w e a j t h g 0 bydisconnecting the points I and It, and. the points j and t, and byconnecting the points j and It, so as to form a key circuit, 0 a: w v 10k 0, into which the automatic mechanism does not enter, as is readilyseen.

To eifect this breaking of two circuits, and joining the opposite partsof the dili'eren't circuits, I arrange the four anvils, H and It Z,which form the terminii of the parts of said circuits, on the ends ofthe opposite sides of a hexagon having its center at 22, as shown infig. 7. r

The switch-wheel Q is secured on the shaft 26, which has a bearing inthe hole 22, and on this wheel is arranged the three metallic strips,23, 24, and 25, 'which are insulated from each other,as shown in fig. 8,either by the wheel Q being made of non-conducting material or'in anyother suitable manner.

The switch-wheel Q being placed over the anvils t j k l, with the outerstrips 23 and 24 resting on the anvils 'i j and It I, said anvils willbe electrically connected, thus forming the switch-circuit and the combined key and automatic circuit before described; but if the switch-wheelQ be now turned an angular distance of sixty degrees to the right, theconnection between the anvils i and j and the anvils k and I will bebroken, and the central strip 25 will then rest on andelectricallyconncct the anvilsj and 7;, thus forming a key-circuitindependent of the automatic mechanism, as before described.

- The shaft 26 of the switch-wheel Q is journaled in the hole 22 in theback D, and on the standard 0 on the partition E, and has secured on itthe gear-wheel P, which meshes into the gear sector R on the shaft 5,which is arranged in lugs on the under side of the partition E, as shownin fig. 6.

The arm S is secured on the end of the shaft 3', and a bracket, 3 withan angular inside face, is secured on the lower'door Y, as shown infigs. 2 and 6, so that as said door is closed, the bracket y strikes thearm S, and moves it from right to left, which causes the gearwheel P andswitch-wheel Q to rotate in the same dirotation of the arm S is underits axis of rotation, while that of the switch and gear-wheel is overand. around their axis of rotation.

A spiral spring, 27, (see fig.'9,)'is attached to a'pin on thegear-wheel 1 and to the side of the frame A, and acts to produce arotation of the gear-wheel and switch-wheel from left to right, and theseveral parts are so arranged as that when the door Y is closed, asrepresented in fig. 6, the arm S will have the angular position shown infig. 9, and the strips 23 and 24 of the switch-wheel Q will rest on theanvils 4'. j and k l. Now,if the door Y be opened so as to draw thebracket y away from the arm S, the spring 27 will cause the switch-wheelQ to rotate an angular distance of sixty degrees to the right, thusbringing the strip 24 onto the anvilsj and k, and switching out theautomatic mechanism, as before explained, and it is readily seen thatthe closing of the door Y will restore the switch-circuit and thecombined key and automaticcircuit. But if no precaution were taken toprevent opening the lower door Y while an automatic signal was beingtransmitted, the operator might open said door, which would switch theautomatic mechanism-out of the circuit, as just shown, thus cutting offand destroying the automatic signal.

To'prevent this difiiculty the sliding rod Z is arranged in a hole inthe partition E, and in the standard-m on said partition and the upperend of said rod rection,-as will be readily seen by noticing that the isbent so as to stand over the knob f on the winding 3 thus lcckin' saidlower door.

The rod Z is of such length as that when the winding-lever Gr is at theend of its upward movement, the knob f supports the red at such a heightas to allow the bracket y to pass under the end of studied, from whichit is seen that the lower door Y can be opened at any time when thewinding-lever G is not drawn down and the automatic mechanism is not inoperation, but that as soon as said lever is drawn down, the rod Z locksthe door Y, and keeps it locked until the automatic mechanism completesthe signal.

I am aware that switches have been before used in signal-boxes hence Ilay no claim to a switch mechanism, except when operated by theautomatic signalizing mechanism and acting to switch the operatingmechanism out of the main circuit, as is herein shown. Nor do I claimdividing a signal-box into two apartments by means of a longitudinalpartition, nor the arrangement of tbeautomatic mechanism and keymechanism in separate apartments, nor the use of a single inner door ina signal-box, nor the use of a separate inner cover or door for eachapartment of the signal-box, except when said two inner doors arehinged, so as to swing open by turning on an axis; nor do I claimthe;use of a pivoted shield-piece for covering the slot in the innerdoor, except when the same is provided with a knobhole through which theknob of the winding-lever is extended, so that said shield-pieceis'operated by the action of the knob of the winding-lever, in place ofbeing operated by a knob secured on itself, and serving as a means ofoperating the windin -lever as in revious constructions.

(la-has.

\Vhat'l claim herein as new and of my invent-ion, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A signal-box provided with an automaticsignalizing mechanism, andwith a switch mechanism operated by said automatic mechanism, and soarranged that said automatic mechanism closes the switch, and thusswitches the whole operating mechanism out of the circuit at thecompletion of each fire-alarm given by said automatic mechanism,substantially as is herein specified.

2. A signal-box divided by a horizontal partition into two apartments,and provided with a separate hinged inner door to each of saidapartments, and with an outer door inclosing both the inner doors of thebox, one of said apartments containing the automatic signalizingmechanism, and the other the key mechanism, substantially as'is hereinspecified.

'3. In combination with the inner door of a signalbox, a stop mechanismarranged in the interior of the' box, and operated by an arm on the mainshaft of the automatic mechanism, for the purpose of preventing saidinner door from being closed until the windinglever is in such aposition as to prevent its injury by by and acting upon said innerdoors, in such a manner that the opening of either door causes thelocking of the other door, so that it cannot be opened until the firstopened door is closed, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. The switch-wheel Q, having the insulated metallic strips 23 2425'arranged on its face, when used in combination with the four anvils,if L l, forming the terminii'ot' the parts of two circuits, the severalparts being arranged as and for the purpose specified.

7 In combination with a signal-box having the automatic mechanism andkey mechanism arranged in separate apartments, a switching mechanismoperated by the inner door which incloses the key mechanism, andcombined with the different circuits in the signalbox in such a mannerthat upon opening the inner door inclosing the key mechanism, theautomatic mechanism shall be switched out of the main circuit,substantially as is herein specified.

8. In combination with a signal-box provided with automatic and keymechanism and switching mechanism, arranged and operating as specifiedin seventh clause, a locking mechanism operated by the automaticmechanism, and serving to keep the inner door inclosing the keymechanism locked, until the completion of any signal commenced by theautomatic mechanism, substantially as is herein specified.

As evidence of the tbregoing, witness my hand this 20th day of April,1870.

' JOB ABBOTT. Witnesses:

A. M. S'roU'r, A. M. SroU'r, Jr.

